Au Naturel Reception and Awards

The opening reception of Clatsop Community College’s seventh annual juried art exhibit, Au Naturel: The Nude in the 21st Century, was held Thursday, March 7, in the CCC Art Center Gallery.

This year, over 600 images were submitted for consideration by artists from 26 states and Canada, Mexico, China, Morocco and the United Kingdom. The 2013 show includes 52 works by 47 artists from 16 states and Canada.

Fourteen of the selected artists were present for the reception, including artists who traveled from as far away as San Francisco and Claremont, California, and Superior, Colorado. This year’s juror Clint Brown, Professor Emeritus at Oregon State University, gave a gallery talk. During the opening reception, awards were announced including cash prizes, a purchase award, a combined solo show and workshop award, and four additional workshop awards. Awards for this competition are supported by submission fees paid by all participating artists. Bridgewater Bistro and Clemente’s Restaurant generously provided hors d’oeuvres and Erickson Floral Company provided flowers for the reception. Thanks also to the Astoria Coffee House and Bistro and the Cannery Pier Hotel for their support. A No-Host Post-Reception party at the Astoria Coffee House and Bistro was held immediately following, and on Friday, March 8, Mr. Brown gave a presentation titled “Nude vs. Naked” to an audience of students, faculty, staff and community members.

This year’s Au Naturel exhibit will remain on display in the CCC Art Center Gallery, 1799 Lexington, Astoria, through March 28. All visitors are invited to cast a vote for the People’s Choice award, which will be announced at the close of the exhibition.

For the first time in the history of the Au Naturel competition, an artist has been awarded first place for the second time. Michael Reedy, of Ann Arbor, MI, whose work was selected for first place in the 2009 competition, won first place again this year for his mixed media piece Expulsion. As second place, Mr. Brown selected a conté, pastel and charcoal drawing entitled The Source by Robert Bibler of Salem, OR Grace Benedict of Lafayette, IN was awarded third place for her colored pencil drawing entitled Cradle. All of the artists selected to participate in the 2013 exhibit were invited to submit proposals for a solo show award. From among these submissions, Paul Rutz of Portland, OR was selected by the art faculty. In conjunction with his solo show, scheduled to open the 2013-2014 exhibition season, Dr. Rutz will also lead a workshop instructing participants in his unique approach to artmaking.

In addition to cash prizes and the solo show award, multiple workshop awards were announced. Jessica McCoy, Assistant Professor at Pitzer College in Claremont, CA was chosen to lead a workshop on color theory, and Jennifer Cutshall, an accomplished mural painter in Portland, was chosen to lead a workshop that will deal with abstraction of the figure. Grace Benedict, who teaches at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN and Cathy Locke, who teaches in the graduate department at the Academy of Art in San Francisco, were both invited to teach workshops in the coming academic year. Cathy Locke’s graphite drawing on mylar titled Torso 4 was selected for this year’s purchase award by art department faculty and will become part of the College’s growing permanent collection.

The Au Naturel exhibit is free and open to the public. The CCC Art Center Gallery is located at 1799 Lexington Avenue, Astoria. The gallery is open M-F, 8am-6pm and Saturday, 11am-4pm; Sundays and holidays by appointment only. Please note special Spring Break hours from March 25 through March 28 of 11am-4pm.